In general, a device for supporting a receptacle in a cantilevered-out position comprises a resiliently closable clamp having two jaws hinged to each other and urged towards a closed position by a return spring. One of the jaws has means for enabling the device to be fixed to an installation such as a rotary filling platform.
On a platform of that type, the clamp of the support device holds the neck of the receptacle so as to suspend the receptacle beneath a filling spout.
While the platform is rotating, the receptacle tends to tilt under the action of centrifugal force. The projected cross-section thus presented by the neck of the receptacle beneath the filling spout is elliptical in shape and smaller than the real cross-section of the neck which is circular. Unfortunately, the maximum filling flow rate and thus the transverse dimensions of the jet of filling substance are determined relative to the real cross-section of the neck. There therefore exists a risk that the filling substance will flow outside the receptacle while the platform is rotating.
To remedy that drawback, proposals have been made to reduce the filling flow rate so as to reduce the size of the filling jet. However that reduces productivity. Another solution consists in using a return spring of high stiffness so as to exert a clamping force on the neck that is sufficient to prevent the receptacle from tilting. It is then more difficult to put the receptacle into place in the clamp and to remove it therefrom. This is particularly troublesome in installations where filling is performed by weight and in which the support device is associated with a weight sensor. The forces exerted to move apart the jaws of the clamp while the receptacle is being put into place and removed then give rise to mechanical forces on the weight sensor that run the risk of damaging the sensor and of reducing its accuracy.